Maris-Mantle Home Run Chase: June 1, 1961

Published 8:00 pm, Tuesday, May 31, 2011

But history has taught us that the storylines which define a particular season usually don’t begin to take shape until Memorial Day weekend.

Such was the case 50 years ago when the 1961 baseball season provided fans with a home run race for the ages.

It was the year of the “M&M Boys.” Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Yankee teammates. Side by side in the outfield. Back to back in the lineup.

And neck and neck in their pursuit of baseball’s most hallowed record: Babe Ruth’s 60 home runs in a single season.

As Memorial Day came and went, on June 1, exactly 50 years ago today, the home run race between two Yankees chasing a Yankee ghost was beginning to heat up.

With that in mind, “Who’s On First” at TheHour.com will take a look back at that historic 1961 season and follow what Mantle and Maris did day-by-day, everyday, from June 1 to October 1.

We’ll examine who they played and where, whether they homered or not, what else they did when they didn’t hit one out, and what was The Bambino doing at the same point during his milestone season in 1927.

As an added bonus, we’ll throw in a few facts here and there about the M&M Boys you may also find interesting.

Some of you may have lived through that season the first time around a half-century ago and will get a chance to re-live it. Me, I was six years-old in ‘61, but I didn’t start following baseball until 1965 (Maris, incidentally, hit a HR at my first Yankee game in ‘65). So even though I’ve read plenty about it and saw the fabulous Billy Crystal HBO movie on it, this will be my first in-depth journey through that historic season.

Others reading this weren’t even born yet and wouldn’t be until 10, 20, even 30 years later. But you’re still invited to follow the day by day account of Maris and Mantle 50 years ago. Heck, you may even enjoy it more. Remember the great home run race in 1998 between McGwire and Sosa as they both chased - and surpassed - Maris’ record 61 homers? Well, just imagine a race like that without the juice.

I also promise that was the last time you’ll see the names McGwire and Sosa - and Bonds, for that matter - on this blog the next four months. The single-season home run record was set in 1961, and as far as this baseball fan and blogger is concerned, that mark still stands 50 years later.

So sit back and relax, baseball fans, as we go back everyday for the next four months and re-visit one of the most famous baseball seasons in history. And if you happen to miss a day or two, go back and catch up. They will all be there.

So what happened exactly 50 years ago today on June 1, 1961? The Yankees lost to the Red Sox 7-5 at Fenway Park before - get this - a crowd of only 5,257. For a Yankees-Red Sox game?

Neither Mantle nor Maris homered. Mantle did go 2-for-5, however, with a single and a double while striking out twice. He raised his average to .321.

Meanwhile, Maris took the collar, finishing 0-for-4 with a strikeout and a walk as the reigning American League MVP saw his batting average dip to .238.

After 42 games, The Mick, who homered the night before in the Yanks’ 7-6 win over Boston, has 14 home runs, while Maris, who also hit one out the night before, has 12. Babe Ruth, after 42 games, had 15 homers.

Did You Know … A lot was made about the asterisk then-Commissioner Ford Frick placed next to Roger Maris’ record of 61 home runs. Frick, who was Babe Ruth’s good friend and ghostwriter on a baseball book, always said he put the asterisk next to the record because Maris broke the record in a 162-game season while Ruth set the mark during a 154-game schedule.

But Maris didn’t hit his first home run in 1961 until the 11th game of the season, a solo shot in a 13-11 win at Detroit. So in actuality, he broke the record in 152 games (162 minus the first 10 games).

It doesn’t change the fact, however, that the mythical asterisk by Frick was an insult to Maris and justifiably removed by the Committee for Statistical Accuracy in 1991 … six years after his death.